The Familiar Stranger

The Meeting

I was wandering around this beautiful town I was visiting. The landscape was breathtaking. I was enjoying every little thing with all of my senses. The smell of grass, kids laughing and playing around, the occasional barks of dogs passing by me, the sounds of shoes walking on dry soil with small rocks, all the greenery, the sound of wind and how it feels when it blows over my top and hair which was in a pineapple.

I love being in nature. Always relaxes me no matter how hard of a day I'm having. I can always be in the here and now, not worry about the future, not regret the past. No what if's, no but's, no maybe's. I'm here. I'm content. I'm at peace.

I kept walking until I reached a fort overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way. It was around 18:04. I sat down on the grass facing the water enjoying the beautiful view and the soft wind. I could hear people chattering. It wasn't loud or annoying. It sounded like happy vibes. I took a long, deep, slow breath and lay down on the grass thinking to myself how amazing it would be to live here but I was lucky to have visited a summer where the weather wasn't crappy. I wouldn't be able to tolerate their usual depressing weather. Maybe one day, I will find a place with such beautiful greenery and tolerable weather... until then, I will enjoy these moments.

I sat back up to get a better view and as soon as I did, a dog came and just lay right beside me. I started to look around wondering where he came from and I saw a guy running towards me calling him "Milo, come here, Milo". Milo ignored the guy and didn't even turn to look at him. "Hi", said the guy smiling so I smiled back and said "hi". He looked at the dog and said "hey, Milo, let's go. Let's go boy" as he tried to pull him to get him to move but Milo did not move even one bit. He kept trying but eventually, he gave up and asked me if it was ok to sit so I said "sure". The guy sat down and burst out laughing. He had one of those contagious laughs so I ended up laughing too. He, then, looked at me and reached out to shake my hand "I'm Mateo, I'm sorry! Milo does this a lot but it's the first time he chooses to lie next to some stranger". I shook his hand:

"I'm Shay. Yeah that was pretty funny. I guess he really enjoys nature as much as I do."

"He really does... Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too. You have a really nice name, by the way."

"Thank you! It's a pretty popular name."

"Yes, but I love the sound of it. It's one of my favorite guy names."

I giggled and he smiled at me. I looked in front of me and sighed. He looked at the view as well and said "It's such a beautiful place, isn't it"

"It is."

He was average looking. Nothing special but seemed very warm. He was average build with tanned skin and had dark hair and light brown eyes. He was around 6'1. 

I'm average build, 5'2, light-skinned with very dark brown eyes and black curly hair.

He looked at me and asked, "so I take it you're not into big cities that much, are ya?". I looked at him and said "I'm not. I love small towns. People think it's boring to live in such a place but I could come here every day and not get bored and I love traveling so I can see other places when I want to".

"I definitely agree. I actually grew up on a farm and never got sick of it"

"That's pretty cool!"

"Mhmm. So, do you live here?"

"I don't. I'm on a vacation."

"First time?"

"Yes, definitely won't be the last. What about you? do you live here?"

"No, I'm just visiting some family."